Pottery Production at the Neolithic Site of Mulino Fiaccati/Le Rocche (Roccapalumba, Sicily): Insights from Thin-Section Petrography

The Neolithic site of Mulino Fiaccati/Le Rocche, near Roccapalumba in the Sicilian interior, has yielded an unusually rich ceramic assemblage recovered from a fissure exposed by modern quarrying. Typological analysis and a radiocarbon date of 4783-4553 BC (2 sigma) confirm its Middle Neolithic attribution. The ceramics include undecorated wares, Stentinello II/Western Stentinello-type pottery, and trichrome painted vessels, with a fragment tentatively linked to the bichrome facies. The materials studied are under the guardianship of the Soprintendenza per i Beni Culturali e Ambientali di Palermo. An integrated archaeometric approach, combining petrographic thin-section analysis with a geological survey of local raw materials, identifies multiple locally produced ceramic fabrics and demonstrates deliberate selection and modification of clay resources. The results indicate on-site production for all major classes, with only a few impressed-incised vessels originating elsewhere in the Sicani Mountains, pointing to regional exchange. Technological choices such as tempering and the use of ochres reveal a sophisticated operational knowledge and challenge long-standing assumptions that fine painted ceramics were imported into Sicily. These findings provide the first scientific evidence for local production of trichrome wares and offer new insights into functional differentiation within the ceramic repertoire. Ongoing analyses aim to build a broader archaeometric database for Sicilian Neolithic ceramics and to clarify production systems, resource use, and inter-community interactions.